How Appealing



Tuesday, April 19, 2005

In news from Colorado: The Denver Post reports today that “Justices say shop owner not liable for sex assault.” And The Rocky Mountain News reports today that “Colorado high court tosses award in sex-assault suit; 6-1 ruling says business not liable in 1997 attack.” You can access yesterday’s ruling of the Supreme Court of Colorado at this link.

In other news, The Denver Post reports today that “2 killers spared in high court’s ruling on ’02 sentencing law.” You can access yesterday’s rulings of the Supreme Court of Colorado here and here.

In news pertaining to the denial of reconsideration, The Denver Post reports today that “High court won’t reconsider Auman decision.” And The Rocky Mountain News reports that “Court upholds Auman decision; DA must decide on retrial, plea bargain or further appeal.”

Finally, Colorado’s Supreme Court has also refused to reconsider its recent decision setting aside a death sentence due to jurors’ use of a Bible during sentencing deliberations. The Rocky Mountain News reports today that “Justices stand by Harlan ruling.”

Posted at 11:45 PM by Howard Bashman



“Supreme Court back on gender equity case”: This article about alleged gender discrimination in high school sports appears today in The Grand Rapids Press.

Posted at 11:28 PM by Howard Bashman



Yes, no, maybe so? Yesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court granted review in a search warrant case from Georgia. The question presented involves whether police can enter a home to conduct a warrantless search if one spouse consents but the other does not. I first reported on the Supreme Court of Georgia‘s ruling in the case last November in a post that you can access here.

In local coverage of that ruling, The Americus Times-Recorder reported last November that “State Supreme Court rules drug search illegal.”

Posted at 11:22 PM by Howard Bashman



“High Court Limits Stock Fraud Lawsuits; A plunge in a stock’s price does not demonstrate fraud, justices say, even if investors were lured by inflated claims”: David G. Savage has this news update online at The Los Angeles Times.

Posted at 10:22 PM by Howard Bashman



“Weighing property rights”: This past Sunday, Nancie G. Marzulla, president of the Defenders of Property Rights, had this op-ed in The Washington Times. In the op-ed, Marzulla writes, “Now the U.S. District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals is considering a full court, or en banc, review of a case (Stearns v. the United States) that could prove as pivotal as any before the highest court.”

If true, the quoted sentence contains remarkable news, because Stearns Co. v. United States was recently decided by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Thanks much to a reader for the pointer.

Posted at 9:10 PM by Howard Bashman



Available online from The Associated Press: Jesse J. Holland of The Associated Press has a report headlined “DeLay Slams Supreme Court Justice” that begins, “House Majority Leader Tom DeLay intensified his criticism of the federal courts on Tuesday, singling out Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy’s work from the bench as ‘incredibly outrageous’ because he has relied on international law and done research on the Internet.”

And in other news, “Judge Weighs Moussaoui’s 9/11 Guilty Plea.”

Posted at 8:54 PM by Howard Bashman



“Lawsuit targets Williams for ouster; It is unconstitutional to serve both as Rhode Island chief justice and as a member of a military review panel, a lawyer asserts”: Two Saturdays ago, The Providence Journal published an article that begins, “A lawsuit filed Thursday claims that Frank J. Williams is no longer chief justice of the Rhode Island Supreme Court because he is on the military review panel that will hear appeals from suspected terrorists in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The suit cites a section of the Rhode Island Constitution that says that ‘if any general officer, senator, representative or judge shall, after election and engagement, accept any appointment under any other government, the office under this shall be immediately vacated.'”

Posted at 5:08 PM by Howard Bashman



“Case embroiled in controversy after Wilson judge had ordered her to learn English”: The Tennessean contains this article today.

Posted at 4:42 PM by Howard Bashman



“Three judges are flash points in Senate clash; A vote on their nominations Thursday could lead to long-awaited showdown over the federal courts”: This article will appear Wednesday in The Christian Science Monitor.

People For the American Way today issued a press release titled “With Frist’s Finger on the ‘Nuclear’ Button, PFAWF Launches New Ad; Republican Firefighter Returns to Washington to Save the Filibuster.” You can access the new ad via this link.

Focus on the Family today issued a press release titled “Focus on the Family Action Launches Judical Filibuster Ad Campaign.” The press release provides links to the ads.

The Committee for Justice yesterday issued a press release titled “Gonzales Never Accused Priscilla Owen of Judicial Activism.”

The Coalition for a Fair and Independent Judiciary today issued a press release titled “Law Students, Law Professors, Legal Luminaries Rally Nationwide to Protect the Filibuster; Legal Professionals Will Present Thousands of Letters to Senate Leadership.”

And Project 21 today issued a press release titled “Black Activists Criticize NAACP for Filibuster Flip-Flop; Group Now Supports Senate Tactic That Hobbled Civil Rights Legislation.”

Posted at 4:25 PM by Howard Bashman



“Five years later, Elian, now 11, is living a ‘normal’ life”: This article appeared Sunday in The South Florida Sun-Sentinel.

Posted at 3:48 PM by Howard Bashman



“Center Court: There really are vast differences among the Supreme Court’s five conservatives; And that’s exactly what Bush hopes he can eliminate.” Simon Lazarus has this essay in the May 2005 issue of The American Prospect.

Posted at 2:28 PM by Howard Bashman



The Solititor General’s Office files its reply brief in support of its petition for writ of certiorari seeking review of the Third Circuit‘s ruling in the Solomon Amendment case: Once I receive a copy of (or a link to) the reply brief in PDF format, I will post it online. For now, you can access online the cert. petition, the appendix thereto, an amicus brief filed by the Mountain States Legal Foundation, the brief in opposition, and the Third Circuit’s ruling.

Posted at 2:25 PM by Howard Bashman



“New York Man Arrested for Threatening U.S. Judge”: Reuters provides a report that begins, “A New York man was arrested on Tuesday for threatening to kill a Brooklyn federal judge and bomb his courthouse amid growing concern about the safety of the nation’s judiciary and their courtrooms.”

The April 18, 2005 issue of New York Magazine contained an item headlined “Furor in the Court: ‘It’s like we’re in Fallujah’; Brooklyn judges say they’re not as safe as their Manhattan counterparts.”

Posted at 2:08 PM by Howard Bashman



“Once Bitten, Twice Shy”: CBS News legal analyst Andrew Cohen has this essay about Zacarias Moussaoui’s decision, once again, to plead guilty.

Posted at 2:05 PM by Howard Bashman



U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit holds that $5 million punitive damage award was unconstitutionally excessive in racial discrimination case where the actual harm to plaintiff was valued at $50,000: You can access today’s ruling at this link. The Ninth Circuit has ruled that the maximum lawful punitive damages award would be in the range of $300,000 to $450,000. The opinion’s conclusion leaves me unsure concerning whether the plaintiff, on remand, will have the option to reject the reduction and instead opt for a new trial.

Posted at 12:44 PM by Howard Bashman



“The Brains Behind Blackmun: Harry Blackmun’s papers reveal that, more than any justice in memory, he gave his law clerks control over his thinking and writing when he was on the Supreme Court.” David J. Garrow has this article in the May | June 2005 issue of Legal Affairs magazine.

Seth P. Waxman, who now serves as chairman of Legal Affairs, offers this response to Garrow’s article. And at “The Volokh Conspiracy,” David Bernstein reacts here to Tony Mauro’s coverage of Garrow’s article.

I’ll be happy to consider for posting any comments about Garrow’s article that readers forward to me via email. Please let me know whether you are commenting anonymously or for attribution. And I’ll also be pleased to receive via email links to posts from others who are blogging about this article.

Posted at 12:15 PM by Howard Bashman



“Witch Trial: Some Faiths Aren’t Good Enough for Chesterfield Supervisors.” Columnist A. Barton Hinkle has this essay today in The Richmond Times-Dispatch. Hinkle’s essay begins, “Any lawyer who represents himself in court has a fool for a client. Anyone without a law degree who takes issue with J. Harvie Wilkinson is an idiot. To the latter charge, your servant enters a plea of no contest, and plows ahead anyway.”

Posted at 11:33 AM by Howard Bashman



“Murkowski’s position vague in Senate strife; Judicial nominees: Republicans would be able to block filibusters.” This article appears today in The Anchorage Daily News.

The Fort Wayne Journal Gazette today contains an editorial entitled “Uphold the filibuster.”

The Kansas City Star contains an editorial entitled “Keep religion out of judge nominations.”

The Oregon Daily Emerald contains an editorial entitled “Jeopardizing the filibuster could muffle minorities.”

The UCLA Daily Bruin yesterday contained an editorial entitled “GOP efforts to gain power threaten courts, system.”

And in The San Francisco Chronicle, columnist Debra J. Saunders today has an essay entitled “Going nuclear.”

Posted at 11:15 AM by Howard Bashman